SB473 H JUD AM #1
Morgan 3345
The Committee on the Judiciary moved to amend the committee substitute by striking everything after the enacting clause and inserting in lieu thereof the following:
(a) It is unlawful for any person, with the intent to harass or abuse another person, to use a computer, mobile phone, personal digital assistant or other an electronic communication device to:
(1) Make contact with another person without disclosing his or her identity with the intent to harass or abuse;
(2) Make contact with a person after being requested by the person to desist from contacting them: Provided, That a communication made by a lender or debt collector to a consumer, regarding an overdue debt of the consumer that does not violate §46A-1-1 et seq. of this code, does not violate this subsection;
(3) Threaten to commit a crime against any person or property; or
(4) Cause obscene material to be delivered or transmitted to a specific person after being requested to desist from sending such material.
(b) For purposes of this section:
(1) "Electronic communication device" means and includes a telephone, wireless phone, computer, pager, gaming device, or any other electronic or wireless device which is capable of transmitting a document, image, voice, e-mail or text message using such device in an electronic, digital, or analog form from one person or location so it may be viewed or received by another person or persons at other locations.
(2) "Use of a computer, mobile phone, personal digital assistant, or other an electronic communication device" includes, but is not limited to, the transmission of text messages, electronic mail, photographs, videos, images or other non-voice data by means of an electronic communication system, and includes the transmission of such data, documents, messages, and images to another's computer, e-mail account, mobile phone, personal digital assistant, or other electronic communication device.
(3) "Obscene material" means material that:
(A) An average person, applying contemporary adult community standards, would find, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest, is intended to appeal to the prurient interest, or is pandered to a prurient interest;
(B) An average person, applying contemporary adult community standards, would find, depicts or describes, in a patently offensive way, sexually explicit conduct consisting of an ultimate sexual act, normal or perverted, actual or simulated, an excretory function, masturbation, lewd exhibition of the genitals, or sadomasochistic sexual abuse; and
(C) A reasonable person would find, taken as a whole, lacks literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.
(c) It is unlawful for any person to knowingly permit a computer, mobile phone or personal digital assistant or other an electronic communication device under his or her control to be used for any purpose prohibited by this section.
(d) Any offense committed under this section may be determined to have occurred at the place at which the contact originated or the place at which the contact was received or intended to be received.
(e) Any person who violates a provision of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than $500 or confined in jail not more than six months, or both fined and confined. For a second or subsequent offense, the person is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than $1,000 or confined in jail for not more than one year, or both fined and confined.
(a) For purposes of this section:
(1) “Crime of violence" means any criminal offense, whether classified as a felony or misdemeanor under the laws of this state, that has, as an element, the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the person of another.
(2) “Threat” means any communication that a reasonable person, in view of the totality of the circumstances, including, but not limited to, the context, the medium of transmission, and the relationship between the communicator and the recipient, would interpret as a serious expression of intent to commit a crime of violence against the person of another, and that would cause the recipient to be placed in reasonable apprehension of such harm.
(3) "Severe public alarm or inconvenience" means the causation of any of the following by a threat of a crime of violence:
(A) The evacuation or closure of a building, place of assembly, facility of public transportation, or other public space;
(B) The substantial disruption of public services, including but not limited to emergency response, law enforcement activities, or transportation;
(C) Widespread fear or panic among members of the public, as evidenced by multiple reports to authorities or observable public reaction; or
(D) Any other significant interference with the ordinary activities of the public that a reasonable person would consider serious, taking into account the nature, context, and foreseeable consequences of the threat.
(b) A person is guilty of reporting a false emergency incident when knowing the information reported, conveyed, or circulated is false or baseless, he or she:
(1) Initiates or circulates a false report or warning of or impending occurrence of a fire, explosion, crime, catastrophe, accident, illness, or other emergency under circumstances in which it is likely that public alarm or inconvenience will result or that firefighting apparatus, ambulance apparatus, one or more rescue vehicles or other emergency apparatus might be summoned; or
(2) Reports, by word or action, to any official or quasi-official agency or organization having the function of dealing with emergencies involving danger to life or property, an alleged occurrence or impending occurrence of a fire, explosion, crime, catastrophe, accident, illness, or other emergency in which it is likely that public alarm or inconvenience will result or that firefighting apparatus, ambulance apparatus, one or more rescue vehicles or other emergency apparatus might be summoned, which did not occur, does not in fact exist; or
(3) Reports to a law-enforcement officer or agency the alleged occurrence of any offense or incident which did not in fact occur, or an allegedly impending occurrence of an offense or incident which is not in fact about to occur, or false information relating to an actual offense or incident or to the alleged implication of some person; or
(4) Without just cause, calls or summons by telephone, fire alarm system, or otherwise, any firefighting apparatus, ambulance apparatus, rescue vehicles, or other emergency vehicles.
(b) (c) Any person who violates the provisions of subsection (a) (b) of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than $500 or confined in jail not more than six months, or both fined and confined.
(c) (d) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) (b) of this section, any person convicted of a second or subsequent violation of the provisions subsection (b) of this section or, of a violation of subsection (b) of this section which results in bodily injury to another person is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than $5,000 nor more than $10,000, or imprisoned in a state correctional facility for a term of not less than one year nor more than five years, or both fined and imprisoned.
(e) A person is guilty of communicating a threat to commit a crime of violence when that person, by any means, intentionally communicates a threat to commit any crime of violence against another person, or persons, and causes an evacuation of any building, place of public or other lawful assembly, or facility of public transportation, causes severe public alarm or inconvenience, or is made in reckless disregard of the risk of causing such severe public alarm or inconvenience. Upon conviction that person shall be guilty of a felony and shall be fined not less than $2,500 nor more than $10,000, or confined in a state correctional facility for not less than one year nor more than 10 years, or both fined and confined.
(f) Notwithstanding any other provision of this code to the contrary, any person charged with an offense under subsection (e) of this section and who is on pre-trial release, or has been convicted of an offense pursuant to subsection (e) of this section and has had their sentence suspended, been granted probation, released on parole, incarcerated pursuant to §62-11B-4 of this code, been granted work release pursuant to §62-11A-1 of this code, or has been granted any other type of release from confinement, or has been granted a conditional release pursuant to §27-6A-5 of this code pursuant to a criminal charge arising pursuant to subsection (e) of this section, may be prohibited from establishing a residence, or accepting employment, within 1,000 feet of the location of the place where the violence was threatened to occur throughout the duration of the period that the person is on pre-trial release, supervised post-conviction release, or conditional release: Provided, That a person who is on pre-trial release or is on post-conviction or conditional supervised release due to an alleged, or actual, violation of subsection (e) of this section, shall not establish a residence, or accept employment, within 1,000 feet of the residence of any threatened person throughout the duration of the period that the person is on pre-trial release, supervised post-conviction release, or conditional release.
(g) Any offense alleged to have been committed pursuant to subsection (e) of this section may be determined to have occurred at the place at which the communication originated or the place at which the communication was received or intended to be received.
(h) It shall not constitute a defense against any prosecution pursuant to this section that the defendant did not have the ability to complete the threatened violence.
(i) The offenses set forth in this section are in addition to and separate and distinct from any other offenses set forth in this code.
(d) (j) Prior to the sentencing of a person who has been convicted of a violation of this section, the court may enter an order directing any law enforcement agency or emergency service provider involved in the emergency response that wishes to be reimbursed for the costs incurred by the agency or provider during the emergency response, to file with the court within a specified time an itemized statement of those costs. The court may then order the offender to reimburse the agency for all or a portion of those costs.
(e) (k) This section does not apply to any person conducting an authorized emergency drill.
Adopted
Rejected